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(KMOV) -- Arnold Mayor Ron Counts is proposing the hiring of four new police officers and assigning them to patrol parking lots of shopping centers to keep shoppers safe.

The idea came up after a high- profile crime last week when a 41-year old Barnhart man allegedly tried to kidnap a 4-year old from a Schnucks parking lot in Arnold.

According to the Arnold Police Department, the last time a new patrol officer was hired was in 2000. But the number of incidents that officers are dispatched to investigate has doubled since then.

The cost of hiring four new officers would be approximately $250,000. The mayor is proposing that the city tap its reserve fund to pay for the new officers but those funds would eventually run out unless a new funding source is found.

The city council is scheduled to debate the issue at a council work session in two weeks.